The Log house Project begins........

[MotorSeven]

I do appreciate all the suggestions, I have to filter them out and weigh their cost effectiveness. My Irish blood has a serious stubborn gene...but I think it's the same one that makes me a persistent bastage.

 

[955Lincoln]

Seriously though, is there such a thing as an airtight damper? My flue backdrafts very heavily during the summer and even when it warms up during the day when I still want to burn at night. I got to the point of wasting wood and making it too warm in the house during the day just so I didn't have to put up with the horrible smell. I finally gave up and shut it down for the season sooner than I wanted to by shoving a precision cut tight fitting circle of foam rubber in the flue.

 

[moeh1]

Motorseven,
If you considered putting one 1" layer of foil faced high R board under the standard foam, you would get a great vapor barrier and an R7 boost in the ceiling. If you stagger the joints, you'll get an even better seal. I admit I haven't checked lately, but it was about $6-7 a sheet last I knew.

 

[hookdrvr]

M7,
Just my $.02, I grew up in a barn style log house in western NC that my parents put up from a kit and built the inside from southern pine we cut on the property. We had a chimney on each end of the house. On the kitchen side we had a two warm morning wood cook stoves, one on the main level and one in the basement. On the other end, a ponderosa wood stove on the main level, a similar one in the basement. All stoves had/have elbows coming out the back going into the flue, vs. a straight piece. We always had/have a good draw on the stoves. Most of the time, if you put a match in any of the four, it would put it out from the draw. That being said, the design, as you know, will make the difference in having a setup like that. We did that house 32 years ago, my mom still lives there and only uses the wood cook stoves on occasion and heats with the same ponderosa and still with no issues. Insurance has never been a problem as well. They have had the home checked out several times to ensure there would be no issues if something ever happened.
Great progress, enjoying watching the post.:thumbsup:

 

[MotorSeven]

955, for your application I'd go with flue cap damper. It has a cable that runs down the flue so you can open or close it from inside the house.

Here's one:
Chimney Damper Source...large selection of chimney dampers & downdraft solutions...lyemance & lock top chimney flue damper.


My application will be more difficult. I have searched and so far not found what I need, so most likely I will have to build them. I am thinking of welding up a box with a steel shutter in it that has flue collars on each side. If I am not using the Soapstone it is also fairly easy to make plugs to close off the primary cold air intake and secondary intake. It's the stove or fireplace upstairs that will be more of a challenge.

I haven't decided on which yet...stove or fireplace. The wife wants a fireplace, me, I'm a stove guy. However, I was at a buddies house last Christmas and his Dad built their house in the late 50's. It had a gigantic fireplace that heated the house like nothing I had ever seen. It was a double wall steel 4' wide and 3' tall, with the space being 10" all the way around, cold air intakes down low below the fire pit and hot air exit vents up top by the mantle. It worked by convection and it was by far the most impressive fireplace I have ever seen as far as heat output. Most fireplaces require you to sit inside of them if you want to get warm. I'm not kidding, it was below freezing outside, the house was cold when we arrived. His brother had already stacked kindling and wood on the grate. We lit the thing off and in 5 min I was pushing my chair back, 5 more min and I was peeling off layers of clothing and pushing the chair back further. I googled for hours and the closest thing to that design was the old old Heatalator, but I think his was custom built. Unfortunately his Dad is no longer around to tell me the story on the design.
Next time I am down there I am taking measurements and pictures....I sense another welding project in my future:thumbsup:

Mo, that is a good idea, even a 1/2" double foil under the foam would help. Reflective R value is elusive and I think underestimated. Last time I checked the 1/2" was around $8 a sheet. If I stagger the seams I can eliminate taping.....hmmmm.

Hook, I have read many accounts similar to yours which is why I want to give it a whirl.

 

[955Lincoln]

955, for your application I'd go with flue cap damper. It has a cable that runs down the flue so you can open or close it from inside the house.

Here's one:
Chimney Damper Source...large selection of chimney dampers & downdraft solutions...lyemance & lock top chimney flue damper.

Thanks Rick, that would be the perfect solution to my problem although it's going to take some thinking for the pull handle. If you had a stove in your basement going through your block wall that is my setup. The pipe goes straight out the back of the stove into a flue liner, then up about 36' on the side of the house, all masonary.

 

[MotorSeven]

Hmmm, well if you have a access/cleanout door down in the basement then I'd rig a small pulley on the flue wall, then drill a snug hole for the cable to pass thru into the basement.

 

[tnmike]

Rick that fireplace at your buddys you were describing wasn't a masonry stove was it? That is what it sounds like.

The Masonry Heater Association Gallery

http://dnr.mo.gov/pubs/pub781.pdf

 

[955Lincoln]

I read your comments about the hit or miss nature of heating from the basement and I want to mention one of my misses. I bought the house I'm living in now back in 1982 at an auction, incomplete. It was rough framed already so the layout was pretty much set and I didn't feel the need to change anything. I installed a Timberline stove in the basement and when they were installing the ductwork for the heatpump/AC system I had the bright idea of running a large return duct over top of the stove. My thoughts were that I could pull the heat from the basement and help warm the house by just running the circulating fan. What actually happened was the suction of the return duct stopped the natural warm airflow up the basement stairs and trapped the hot air in the basement. It worked much better when the fan wasn't running as you could stand at the top of the stairs and feel plenty of warm air wafting up. It wasn't a costly mistake but I was bummed that it didn't work as planned.

Thinking back on a better natural flow solution, if the stairs were more centrally located instead of on the far corner of the house that may have helped but it would have been a major redesign and loss of space. I had another idea that I believe would have worked very well but never followed through with it. Install a large squirrel cage blower in the basement duct system to actually pressurize the basement with cool air from the returns and registers upstairs and force even more warm air up the stairs.

 

[955Lincoln]

Hmmm, well if you have a access/cleanout door down in the basement then I'd rig a small pulley on the flue wall, then drill a snug hole for the cable to pass thru into the basement.

A very simple and good idea.....if I had thought to install a cleanout. You just gave me another idea though. I could drill an angled hole in the block to intersect the center of the vertical masonary flue. Install a small thick walled metal pipe/tube with a pully on the top or better yet just a pipe/tube with a gradual bend. I have an 8" hole for the flue pipe so working in there wouldn't be too difficult.

Thanks again!